The Otters and Freedom will break the series tomorrow evening at 5:05 p.m. CT

FLORENCE, Ky.- The Evansville Otters jumped out to a six run lead but fell 10-7 to the Florence Freedom on Saturday night.

Evansville (10-10) posted 3 runs apiece in the first two innings against Freedom start Cody Gray.

Gray came into today’s game with the lowest ERA of any starter in the league at 0.95.

Florence (15-5) answered back with back-to-back five run innings in the fourth and the fifth to retake the lead.

In the first, a Jeff Gardner three run blast put the Otters up 3-0.

The home run was Gardner’s fifth of the season.

Then in the second inning, Brandon Soat hit a solo home run to lead off the frame.

A John Schultz RBI single scored Chris Sweeney, back off the DL, and Schultz was scored on an RBI single by Dane Phillips.

The Otters lead 6-0 before the Florence Freedom came storming back.

In the third inning, Jose Brizuela produced a three run home run to cut the Otters lead in half 6-3.

An RBI double from Collins Cuthrell then scored Andre Mercurio to narrow the lead further.

Ryan Rinsky hit the second RBI single of the inning to bring home Cuthrell to make it 6-5.

The Freedom picked up where they left off in the fifth.

With the bases loaded, Cuthrell drew a walk to even the score 6-6.

An RBI single by Jordan Brower then scored Brizuela to give the Freedom a lead they would not give back.

A Ryan Rinsky three RBI triple ended the scoring for the Freedom making it a 10-6 game.

The Otters threatened to even the score in the seventh inning.

The Otters loaded the bases on three straight singles from Garder, Chris Riopedre, and Soat.

However, Sweeney hit into a double play that scored Gardner to make it 10-7, and Taylor Hillson ended the inning on a groundout.

Cody Gray posted his fourth win of the season despite giving up all six runs to the Otters on eight hits.

Austin Sweet recorded the loss for the Otters in one inning pitched giving up the go ahead run in the fifth.

Otters starter Hunter Ackerman had another rough outing in his fourth start of the year.

After two solid innings of work, he gave up five runs in the third inning and finished his day giving up eight hits.

Matt Pobereyko recorded his sixth save of the year for the Freedom.

The Otters and the Freedom will play in the rubber match on Sunday.

First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. CT.

Fans can listen to Sunday’s game live 91.5 WUEV. Lucas Corley will provide play-by-play coverage.

On June 6, the Otters will host Teacher Appreciation Night powered by the Public Education Foundation. On June 7, Deaconess is hosting Nursing Home Night and the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a collectible poster. June 8 is a Bud Light Thursday and Working Distributors Night.

Tickets for June 6-8 are still available by going to evansvilleotters.com or calling 812-435-8686.

Subscriptions are now available for the Otters Digital Network. More information can be found at http://evansvilleotters.com/news/?article_id=1572.

The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions. Group packages and season tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call 812-435-8686.

If you're interested in being a member of our championship team, please call or text 812-760-8610 for part-time employment opportunities.